12 Trash Movies (That You Definitely Love Anyway)
Fast food cinema?
What is it about people liking bad movies? Whenever the year-end box office charts are finalised, there's invariably something way too high on there that critics have universally agreed is terrible and fans seem to happily agree. Is it because we're all sado-massochists when it comes to cinema? Or are marketing companies just a little too good at pretending bad movies are good enough to see?
In truth, it's probably a little of both. And it's definitely important ot acknolwedge that we do tend to gravitate towards bad movies for the same reason we look at car accidents and injury videos on YouTube. It's grotesquely appealing, like a sort of rite of passage.
On an entirely other level, it takes something very special for a movie to be bad, but to still be charming and entertaining enough to capture your heart anyway. It isn't enough for them to be "so bad, they're good" in that sort of kitsch way where you admire the confidence of the film-maker in making something so mind-numbingly terrible (like The Room or most things Michael Bay has made), this is a category of movies entirely apart from that.
Inspired by this thread on Twitter, this is the movies you love, but definitely know aren't very good...
12. Forrest Gump
It might have won six Oscars - including 3 of the big four (it wasn't up for Best Actress) - and been nominated for a massive seven more, but Forrest Gump is not a great movie. It's an entertaining experience and there's a lot to enjoy in the performances, but it's one of the single most cynical pieces of art ever created.
Gump nails its colours to the mast early, seeking as much sugar and sentiment as possible and throwing in a liberal dose of emotional manipulation to drive the plot. It says very little that is actually profound, some of the script is dire and you can see just how much it's working hard to suck you in.
But it's also incredibly successful, and the fact that it's Tom Hanks in the lead makes absolutely all of the manipulation and the rubbish parts entirely forgiveable. And to think it was almost John Travolta...